Freelancing 101: How to Write a Pitch That Convinces Clients to Hire You

“Pitch” is an awful word. It conjures up mental images of desperate car salesmen. “What will it take to send you home in this car?!” Nevertheless, freelancing demands you to contact prospective clients. There’s no other way to close a deal. Here’s how to write a pitch that converts (no sleazy sales tricks required!).

Note: I’m a freelance writer. This article is based on my personal experience pitching clients on websites such as Problogger and Upwork. That said, any freelancer should be able to apply these strategies. Simply adjust the details to fit the specific service you provide.

Make them laugh.

Hiring a freelancer is a stressful process. Prospective clients want to choose the absolute best person for the job. Remove some pressure by giving them a reason to smile.

I like to start my pitches with a strong (but funny) opener. Here’s an example: “Hi! I’m sure you’re buried in emails, so I’ll get to the point…” That’s resulted in several responses like this one:

Hint: You’ll be competing with 20-200 other freelancers for most assignments, so it’s a safe bet this joke will resonate. Just don’t use it word-for-word or people will be suspicious when they see it twice… ;)

Know your audience.

Don’t apply for an assignment until you’ve read the job posting word-for-word. It’s sad that even needs to be said out-loud. But you’d be amazed how many people fail to do so.

Many clients have caught-on to this problem. That’s why some people sneak a “secret word” in their job postings. Or they might ask you to phrase the email subject line a certain way. Fail to comply and they’ll assume you’re lazy or bad at following instructions.

Also, resist the temptation to talk about yourself. You’re not making a new friend. It’s just a business collaboration. Focus on their needs and leave your ego out of it. Let’s say you find a job posting on Problogger. The client requires content about social media marketing. Here are two ways to play the situation. Which one looks better?

Option A: “I’m the perfect person for this job posting! You don’t even want to know how many hours I’ve spent on Facebook. It is my favorite social media site. I’d love to write about how to market services on that website. Hire me!”

Option B: “Social media is a powerful marketing tool. More small businesses need to learn how to use it strategically. I’ve got some personal experience with advertising on Facebook. Maybe your readers will benefit from a case study?”

The second pitch is clearly better. It’s less self-absorbed. You’ve demonstrated a comprehension of the assignment. And the “I” statement is there for a good reason: to emphasize you understand the content’s subject matter. Boom!

Showcase relevant samples.

You can’t expect to get paid before you prove your talent. Why should someone hire you to write business advice when you’ve never ran a business (or at least published content on the subject)? That’d be foolish on their part.

If you don’t have samples yet, here’s an easy way to fix that. Do a Google search for “write for us” + “(your topic).” The topic can be anything you desire. That said, some topics offer more profit potential than others.

People will constantly read content about health, fitness, dating, relationships, business, and money management. Sailing, sea turtles, and scuba-diving? Not so much. When in doubt, be broad.

Here’s a screenshot to show you what I mean:

Many of these websites don’t pay for content. That’s okay. If you’re a new freelancer, you have to do some free work. There’s no other way to build a portfolio. Your efforts will pay off later.

Identify at least five blogs that will benefit from your content. Tailor your pitch to fit their submission guidelines. Repeat until you collect a bare minimum of three samples.

After you collect those samples, include them in your pitches. Preface those links with a statement like: “To give you a feel for my style, here are some live samples…”

Provide some actionable ideas.

Some prospective clients will ask you to summarize or outline a few content ideas. Regardless, it’s smart to do that. You’ll stand-out from less proactive freelancers. (There’s no room for laziness at the top!)

If they include a link to their website, review some of the most popular articles. Ask yourself, “How could I explore these topics from a more original, creative, or interesting angle?” Brainstorm 3-5 article ideas based on your insights.

2 Comments

Upwork isn’t the only place where people can make money. There are multiple forms of freelancing, and I’ve seen many people selling online classes via platforms that help share knowledge, like Fiverr (https://www.fiverr.com) and Zeqr (https://www.zeqr.com). For me personally, freelancing used to be an amazing thing with Elance and oDesk, but now that Upwork took both of those websites down, it’s kinda hard to make good money and leave a great impression on clients.

I suggest checking those websites out, since Upwork’s gigantic fee isn’t attractive at all (to me, at least).

There’s some great advice here. I recruit freelance writers as well as being one myself, and can reveal that the MAJORITY of pitches I receive are dreadful are dismissed almost immediately. As such, a well-prepared pitch has a greater chance of success than you may assume. Yes, I always get at least 20, but of those 15 won’t even make it near the shortlist.

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